Apparatus for ironing handkerchiefs



10st. 25, 1938. J. F. HUEBSCH' ET AL APPARATUS FOR IRONING HANDKERCHIEFS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 10, 1935 llil NIIaIiIWWVI INVENTORS ATTORNEYS Oct. 25, 1938. J. F. HUEBSCH ET AL.

APPARATUS FOR IRONING HANDKERCHIEFS Filed April 10, 1935 Sheets-Sheet 2 IIQZENTORS fwiwa M1? Hum ATTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 25, 1938 UNITED STATES APPARATUS FOR IRONING CHIEFS Huebsch, Miami, Fla., and Monte Joseph F.

HANDKER- F. Huebsch, Milwaukee, Wis., assignors to Huebsch Manufacturing Company, Wis., a corporation of Milwaukee, Wisconsin Application April 10, 1935, Serial No. 15,554

8 Claims.

The invention relates to ironing handkerchiefs.

Heretofore, in both commercial and home laundering operations, when a machine was employed, it has been customary to iron handkerchiefs between a rotatable padded roll and a heated member. Such procedure is not entirely satisfactory because this method is not very ef- V fective in removing the Wrinkles and irregu- W larities left in the fabric of the handkerchief as a result of the Washing and extracting processes. Further, this type of ironing being essentially a friction process has a tendency to ripple the irregularities into folds or creases which have to be dampened and ironed .out with a hand iron to produce a good quality of ironed handkerchiefs.

The object of the present invention is to provide a machine in which a handkerchief is first stretched fiat removing the wrinkles and squar- 20 ing the handkerchief, and then press-ironed fiat without friction so that any slight irregularities remaining after the stretching are pressed or fiattened out instead of being propagated into wring kles such as caused by the rippling action of any friction process.

In the drawings;

Fig. 1 is a side elevation view of an apparatus used in carrying out the method, parts being brokenaway and parts being shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus, with parts broken away and parts shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a detail end elevation view of the power valve control mechanism with parts broken away, the actuator being shown in section as taken along the line 3-3 of. Fig. 5;

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view through a platen and its frame taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a detail view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 6 designates a standard upon which a frame 1 is rotatably mounted, said frame having small ironing boards 8 at opposite sides of its pivot, each of which boards is adapted in one position to be raised relative to the supporting frame 1 by a plunger 9 to bring it into pressing association with a heated iron l having a fiat finished suran apparatus for face of an area sufficient to contact the entire handkerchief at one operation. 00 According to the present invention, the operator takes a dampened handkerchief and places it on the board 8 shown at the right hand side of Fig. l and smoothes down what might be termed the front edge of the handkerchief in position beneath a clamping bar H and then moves said bar downwardly to clamp saidedge to the board and then working back from this clamped edge, she stretches and smoothes the rest of the handkerchief down on'the'boardand in doing so takes out the many little wrinkles that ordinarily 00- our therein-after washing and since the handkerchief is wet, it adheres in a stretched or smoothed out condition to the relatively'drytop covering of the board and, in this spread out substantially flat condition, the clamping bar I l is released 10 and the frame in turned so as to bring the A board with the handkerchief thereon into aposition above the plunger 9 which'thereupon is moved'so as to move the board 8 with the handkerchief thereon into pressing association 1 with the heated iron I, and the handkerchief is thus pressed fiat between the iron and the board.

The clamping bar II is carried by arms I2 secured to a pivot shaft l3 which carries an arm l4 operatively connected I treadle l6 pivoted at l'1, a'spring l8 being con nected to the treadle and to a fixed anchorageto normally pull the footend of the treadle up Wardly and throughthe linkage above described hold the clamping bar'll in a raised position. '25 Pressing down on the pedal l6 operates through the linkage above described to bring the bar ll down on the smoothededge of the handkerchief as above described.

In the preferred form of apparatus, the frame 1 is mounted intermediate itsends on the ball bearing journal l8 carried by the standard-6 and the sides of said frame have openings l9 therein receiving guide pins mounted at the corner portions of each of the boards 8. Asshown in 35 detail in Fig. 4, the board 8 includes a base mem ber' 2|v of wood or other suitable material to which metal strips ZZ'carrying pins 20 are'secured and upon which a cushion layer' 23 is mounted with an outer fabric covering 24 for said 40 cushion layer. 7

The plunger 9 is preferably power operated by compressed air and for this purpose its spindle or rod 25 is operatively connected with a diaphragm 26 mounted between casing sections,21

and 28,the plunger being normally urged to a release position by a spring 29 interposed between a relatively fixed guide member 30 and a part 3|" connecting the rod 25 with the diaphragm. The other section 28 of the diaphragm casing connects with a supply and exhaust pipe 32 which is controlled by a suitable three-way rotary valve 33 which allows compressed air from thesupplypipe 34 to; be introduced through the pipe "32 by a link IS with a 20 into the space formed by the casing section 28 and the diaphragm 26 so as to push the diaphragm upwardly and thus through the connection of the rod 25 therewith move the plunger 9 upwardly to bring the board 8 into ironing association with the iron I0. For holding the plunger in a predetermined position it has a guide pin 35 operating in an opening 36 in an arm 31 fixed to the standard, said opening being offset from the axis of the plunger 9 which may also be guided by an extension 38 through which the upper end of the rod 25 passes.

For operating the valve the swingable and lengthwise thereof and each normally urged to a locked position by a spring 40. 'Each rod 39 is manually controlled by a lever 4| which is guided in its movements by its slidable mounting in a slot 4| in a member forming part of the frame 1. Each lever has a slot 42 in which a pin 43 on the outer end of the rod 39 works, said lever having a cam end 44 engageable with a side 45 of the frame 1 so that when the lever 4| as viewed in Fig. 2 is swung toward the right, it will pull the rod 39 toward the right andrelease it from its locked engagement with the fixed frame which is formed by the base 46 and standards 41. connected 'with the base and with the casting forming the iron Hlwhich is also connected to the upper end of the pedestal 6.

The valve 33 is as noted of the rotary type and may be an ordinary three way valve-and its spindle 48 has a lever '49 secured thereto and normally urged to a valve closing position by a spring 50 connecting said lever with a fixed part of the frame of the machine. When the frame 1 is turned in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2, the protruding end of the locking rod 39 swings around and as it doesso it engages the lever 49 which is then in the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3 and swings it to the full line position shown therein, thus opening the valve and allowing the air to actuate the plunger 9. For holding --the lever 49 in the opening position means are provided for locking the rod 39 in'its valve opening position, and this consists of a latch or dog 5| pivotally mounted at 52 upon a fixed plate 56 and normally moved by a spring 53 into a latching position as shown in full in Fig. 3, the spring being connected by apin 54 working through a slot 55 of the plate 56. The latch or dog 5| in the position shown in Fig.3 serves as a stop to prevent the bar 39 from being swung counterclockwise by the lever 49 under the action of its spring 50, and the movement of the rod 39 is limited by a fixedstopblock 51. Since the latch 5| can be swung downwardly against the action of its spring 53,.the rod 39 swings it downwardly to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3 when said rod is moving to a valve opening position. While the rod 39 is held between the latch 5| and the stop 51, the lever 49 together with the valve controlled thereby is held in an open position, and the ironing board 8 is under these conditions held by the plunger 9 in a raised position. When the operator swings the hand lever 4| toward the right, thereby releasing the rod 39 from its locked position, the frame I may be turned in a continuing clockwise direction, and as soon as the release occurs the spring 50 operating on lever 49 opens the valve 33 and thus the air is exhausted from the space below the diaphragm 26 and the spring 29 returns the plunger 9 with the board 8 to its lower position, and under these conditions the plunger 9 moves free of the board 8 above it so that the frame I with'the boards 8 thereon can be turned. By a continued turning of the frame the board just under the iron is moved to an exposed position while the other board which in the meantime has had the handkerchief spread out thereon is moved to a position beneaththe, plunger 9 and the operations are then repeated.

The iron l0 may be heated in any suitable manner, but as shown the same is hollow and has an entrance ,steam pipe 58 and a return pipe 59 boardcarrying frame I has valve-actuator and frame locking rods 39 slidably mounted on each side" connected thereto.

We desire it to be understood that this inven:

tion is not to be limited to any particular form or arrangement 'of 'apparatus parts except in so far as such limitations are included in the claims.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. In, an apparatus for ironing handkerchiefs, the combination of a support, a turntable pivotally mounted on said support; ironing boards mounted on said table on opposite sides of its pivot, an iron, one of said boards adapted to be disposed beneath said iron in a pressing position when the other is in a receiving position, means mounted on said support for holding down a portion of the handkerchief, while it is being stretched out, on the board then in a receiving position, and meansfor moving the board with the work stretched out thereon while in a pressing positioninto pressing association with the iron. a N V 2. In an apparatus for ironing handkerchiefs, the combination of a support, a turntable thereon having end portions disposed on opposite sides of its pivotQironingboards mounted on said turntable on opposite sides of its pivot, an iron mounted on said support for successive pressing association with said boards, power operated means for moving a board with the work thereon into pressing contact with-saidiron, and manually controlled means at both ends of said turntable for controlling said power operated means.

3. In an apparatus for ironing handkerchiefs, the combination of a support, a turntable thereon, ironing boards mounted on said table on opposite sides of its pivot movable from a work receiving to a pressing position, an iron mounted on said support for successive pressing association with said boards, a fluid pressure operated means for effecting relative motion between said iron and one of said boards to press the handerchief flat between the same, a normally closed valve for the pressure fiuid, a locking member for holding said turntableagainst movement during the operation of said means and engageable with said valve to open the same as said table swings to a pressing position, and means for holding said locking member against swinging movement when said table is in a pressing position, and a manual control for releasing said locking member from said last named means operable from that portion of the table which is in a work receiving position.

4. In'an apparatus for ironing handkerchiefs, the combination of a support, a turntable thereon, ironing boards mounted on said table on opposite' sides'of its pivot, an iron, one of said boards adapted to be disposed beneath said iron in a pressing position when the other is in a receiving position, means for holding down a portion of the handkerchief while it is being stretched out on the board then in a receiving position, means for moving the board with the work stretched out thereon while in a pressing position into'pressingassociation with the iron, and con- V a manually operable table adjacent the board in a receiving position;

trol means for said board moving means having part mounted on said turn- 5. In an apparatus for ironing handkerchiefs, the combination of a support, a turntable thereon having end portions at opposite sides of its pivot, ironing boards mounted on said turntable on opposite sides of its pivot, an iron mounted on said support for successive pressing association with said boards, power operated means for moving a board with the work thereon into pressing contact with said iron, and manually operable means for controlling said power operated means including a pair of locking members, one at each end of the turntable and operable from the opposite end of said turntable.

6. In an apparatus for ironing handkerchiefs, the combination of a turntable, diametrically disposed ironing boards mounted on said table on opposite sides of its pivot, each board having a receiving and a pressing position, an operator controlled clamping bar cooperating with either board for clamping one edge of the handkerchief to a board in a receiving position while said handkerchief is being stretched out thereon, an iron of an area equal to that of the handkerchief, and means for bringing the board with the handkerchief stretched out thereon and while in a pressing position into pressing association with said iron.

7. In an apparatus for ironing handkerchieis, the combination of a support, a pair of ironing boards mounted to swing about said support and disposed on opposite sides of their common pivot,

said boards being movable from a receiving to a pressing position, an iron for successive pressing association with said boards when in their pressing position, power operated means for moving a board with the work thereon into pressing contact with said iron, and manually controlled means adjacent each ironing board for controlling the power operated movement of the other board.

8. In an apparatus for ironing handkerchiefs the combination of a hollow standard, a turntable pivotally supported on said standard, ironing boards mounted on said turntable on opposite sides of its pivot, an iron, one of said boards adapted to be disposed beneath said iron in a pressing position when the other is in a receiving position, a clamping bar movably mounted on said standard for holding down a portion of the handkerchief while it is being stretched out on the board then in a receiving position, means mounted in the hollow of said standard for controlling said clamping bar, and means for moving the board with the work stretched out therein while in a pressing position into pressing association with the iron.

JOSEPH F. HUEBSCH. MONTE F. HUEBSCH.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No; 21 M252, October 25, 19

' JOSEPH-F. HUEBSCH ET AL. I It is hereby certified, that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 5, second.

column, line 26, claim 8, for the word "therein" readthereon; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 6th day of December, A.- D. 1958'.

Henry Van Arsdale (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

